Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday met at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem with UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly, who is on a diplomatic visit to Israel.

The Prime Minister underscored the importance of preventing the nuclearization of Iran and emphasized the necessity of thwarting Iran's continued activity to undermine regional and global stability.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and UK Foreign Secretary Cleverly also discussed increasing bilateral cooperation in the security, technology and economic fields, and especially in artificial intelligence.

“I'm very happy to see you, Mr. Cleverly, because we have excellent relations, and I'm sure this visit will make them even stronger,” Netanyahu told the British Foreign Secretary.

“We're two of the like-minded, smart countries. The world belongs to those who innovate. We're innovation nations. We're democracies, strong and vibrant and cooperative. And that's great. I welcome you here,” added the Prime Minister.

Also attending the meeting were Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the Director of the National Security Council Tzachi Hanegbi, the Head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate, the Prime Minister's Military Secretary and the two nations' ambassadors.

Earlier on Monday, Cleverly also met Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who described the British Foreign Secretary as “a true friend of Israel”.

“The UK is one of Israel's closest friends in the world and our largest trading partner in Europe. We discussed promoting economic and technological projects together, promoting the free trade agreement between our two countries, and the fight against Palestinian terrorism. I thanked the Foreign Secretary for the UK's commitment to stopping the Iranian nuclear program, and for its commitment to expanding the Abraham Accords,” said Cohen.

Before leaving for Israel, Cleverly said, "The UK and Israel work closely together to keep our people safe." He pledged "to renew our close security partnership, in the face of unacceptable threats from the Iranian regime".

Foreign Minister Cohen met Cleverly during his visit to London in March. During the visit, Cohen thanked his counterpart for the warm relationship between the two countries and expressed appreciation for the cooperation on the part of Great Britain in the international arenas.

The two discussed the Iranian issue at length and agreed that the continuation of Iran's uranium enrichment to the prohibited and dangerous levels would lead to serious consequences on the part of the international community.

Netanyahu also visited London in March, where he met Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman.